Man Arrested After Entering Illinois Governor’s Backyard Remains in Custody on Separate Theft Plea

Dwayne Cortez Milton was arrested the night of July 4 after allegedly jumping a fence and entering Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s backyard in Chicago, Fox News reported. He faces a trespassing charge in the case.

Milton was released from custody pending trial on the trespassing charge. Court documents show he pleaded guilty July 7 in a separate theft case and remains in custody. He was allegedly under electronic monitoring at the time of the July 4 incident and had an extensive criminal history, according to court records cited by Fox News.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed the SAFE-T Act in 2021, making the state the first to abolish cash bail statewide. Critics have argued the law makes it harder to detain repeat offenders before trial.

GOP gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey wrote on X that a 10-time convicted felon slipped his electronic monitor and was found in Pritzker's backyard. Americans for Prosperity IL state director Brian Costin wrote that he hoped Pritzker would take reforming the SAFE-T Act more seriously.

Illinois Review contributor Mark Weyermuller stated that the governor is a victim of his own soft-on-crime policy.

President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social at the end of June that Pritzker should call him after a weekend in Chicago in which 39 people were injured and four were killed. Trump and Pritzker have repeatedly clashed over approaches to crime.